Cocoa Melt Away Cookies

Cocoa Melt Away Cookies photo by vsimon

clockwise: powdered sugar, cocoa and cinnamon, granulated sugar

These were a happy accident last year. It started out as a trial run of a recipe called Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies from Bon Appétit. The ingredients were cocoa, dark chocolate, eggs, a bit of cornstarch, salt and a lot of powdered sugar. No flour, no dairy. I could give it a go.

This is an easy recipe. And I inadvertently made it easier. Well, I got distracted and forgot to add the melted chocolate. It was melted. And still in the microwave, out of sight. I didn’t even notice my mistake until I was making a cup of tea, many hours later.

Not to worry, the chocolate did not go to waste. I can’t say for sure, but it is likely I just spooned it out of the container and into my mouth. I have been known to do that. Hopefully I shared.

According to the recipe, the dough would be very stiff. Mine was very soft and sticky, more like thick batter. Even then, I didn’t think about forgetting something.

I put the batter in the fridge for a while to see if it firmed up. It did, a little. So I proceeded with the recipe, dropping blobs of batter into powdered sugar, more or less as directed. And baked them as directed.

They are crispy outside, melty and chewy on the inside. And very sweet. You can drop them into a mix of cocoa powder and cinnamon to cut the sweetness. A bit of cayenne would be fun too.

My mistake was worth repeating. But we wondered what we missed with the original recipe. So we made that too. That cookie is rated 4 stars on the Bon Appétit site. Lots of folks like it. But is a different cookie, heavy and dense. And there is a place for that.

This one is thin, crispy, airy, chewy. We like this version so much better.

cocoa melt away cookies photo by vsimon

Cocoa Melt Away Cookies

makes 18 three inch cookies

metric measures

3 large egg whites, room temp

150 gm

2 ½ cups powdered sugar, divided use

270

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, not cocoa drink mix

50 gm

1 tablespoon cornstarch

8 gm

¼ tsp salt

2 gm

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Layer two or three cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt.

On low speed, add the dry mixture to the egg white mixture. Continue until well blended.

Refrigerate mixture for 20-30 minutes to firm up a bit.

Place remaining powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Drop cookie mixture by tablespoon into sugar, coating generously. This will be messy.

I use two spoons to plop the batter into the sugar. And two more spoons to cover it in sugar. Then I gently pick up the coated batter, and place it on cookie sheets. Give them room, they spread.

You will have some powered sugar leftover. But you need the extra to cover the bottom of the bowl. Otherwise the batter will stick to it. And I don’t mind wasting a bit of sugar.

Bake about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely.

Variations

For a darker and less sweet cookie, roll batter in cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar. Sub 1/4 cocoa powder for the last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. I don’t like wasting cocoa powder. So I am just more careful, making sure there is cocoa covering the bottom of the bowl before I drop in the batter. And the cocoa doesn’t coat the batter as thickly as powdered sugar does. So less goes further.

Add some spice. A teaspoon of cinnamon can go into the batter or the coating.

Add some heat. Cayenne or chili powders can also go in the batter or the coating. Add as much, or as little as you like. Sweet and heat is a great combo.

Add some cool. Just a few drops of mint extract added to the batter adds a lot of flavor and scent.

Make it mocha. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder to the batter. Or grind it fine and add to the coating.

What is your favorite flavor? And do you like it in, or out of your cookie?

It is still ongoing. Categories include cakes, cookies, custard, pie, and more. Vote for your favorites until December 13.

Your vote enters you to win a Kitchen Technology Center. You can vote in every category. I have already entered Pumpkin Custard, Hold the Dairy. And I will enter Cocoa Melt Aways in the cookie category.

If you are a blogger, be sure to enter a recipe. Elana, of Elana’s Pantry has entered Tart and Tangy Cranberry Bars.

The competition is stiff, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a gluten free winner! Especially in a popular mainstream cooking magazine.

Healthy Eats guest post

Healthy Eats is a blog associated with the Food Network. Last week they published my post of Sorghum Almond Drops, a whole grain, gluten free, dairy free, and egg free holiday cookie.

If you would like to see more gluten free recipes at this very popular healthy cooking blog, please visit the post and comment. I know some of you already have commented there, thank you very much!

OH MY GOODNESS! These are amazing! I made these to take to our church’s cookies and carols night so my kids would be able to eat some cookies. These are something that the kids have put on the list to make for Christmas dinner. We have only been gluten-free dairy-free for 2 weeks and this is the most excited my kids have been about it.